MITCHELL 16MM PROFESSIONAL MOTION PICTURE CAMERA SYSTEM FOR STUDIO, LOCATION AND ANIMATION.
This Camera finds a healthy market in the Theatrical, Educational, Industrial and Commercial fields. It is would also useful for Special Effects operations.
THE SYSTEMS INCLUDE:
- Camera Body- Mint Condition
- Mitchell Side Finder
- 3 B&L Baltar Mitchell Lens in Mitchell Mount -Good Used
- Focal Length Our Choice
- 4 lens revolving Turret
- Thru The lens Rackover viewing system
- L Base
- Variable Shutter to 235 Degrees
- Footage Counter
- One 400 Ft 16mm Mitchell Magazine
- One 1200 Foot Mitchell 16mm Magazine
- Sunshade with Rods and Bracket
- Very Good Shape
- Mitchell Variable Motor system with Speed control and Cables
- Camera Case-Used Fair Condition
Serial Number of the Camera: 659.
This camera was manufactured in 1959!
This Camera is fully serviced, 100% operational and ready to put into service.
Mitchell Camera Corporation was founded in 1919 by Henry Boger and George Mitchell. Their first camera designed and painted by John Leonard in 1917 was known as the Mitchell Standard. Features included a planetary gear-driven variable shutter (US Patent No 1,297,703) and a unique rack-over design (US Pat No 1,297,704).
MITCHELL STANDARD CONSTRUCTION:
Painted or enameled metal. Available in smooth black or crackle black finish. Machined to the highest standards of precision. Mitchells were hand-built one by one. As a result, parts are not necessarily interchange able between cameras, even of the same model. On used cameras, check the serial numbers carefully; most parts have them.
VIEW:
Viewing is possible on the ground glass when the camera is shifted to the focusing position, and this is the only absolutely reliable check for critical framing and effects; of course it's not possible during the actual taking of the scene. From the first the Mitchell Camera Co offered the conventional "spyglass" finders with individual objectives matched to the taking lenses.
Beginning in the late Twenties the company also manufactured an excellent patented side finder that shows the scene upright and laterally correct on a large ground glass. Masks are inserted in this finder to indicate correct fields of view for the various lenses. The finder pivots to compensate for parallax. (Later finders have built-in matte ribbons to set the field of view.)
DRIVE:
The earliest Mitchells had a "clapper" movement with many similarities to the original Bell & Howell drive. A pivoting carrier pinned at the top alternates the film between the fixed registration pins and the pulldown claws, which are driven by a drunken screw. Probably only a handful—if any—of these Leonard movements still exist. The Type AA movement was initially installed in about 60 Mitchells. It uses three cams to control the pulldown, insert the register pins and apply lateral pressure to the film while at rest in the gate. Many of these movements were later pulled out and replaced with high speed movements, the type most commonly seen today. Beginning in 1925 Mitchell was building cameras with the improved High Speed cam and gear movement and with the coming of sound they began offering it in two versions: Type AB (ball-bearings) and Type AC (sleeve bearings, much quieter). In spite of the "High-Speed" designation, only the AB movement can handle really high speeds (up to 140 frames per second but recommended to about 110); the AA and AC movements are rated to 32 fps. In all these movements, four claws engage the film, two on either side below the aperture. The movement can be cranked in either direction. The shutter is a 170 degree disc with a planetary gear dissolving mechanism. The automatic dissolve on the Standard works at three speeds: 2, 4 and 8 feet. Manual shutter adjustments can be controlled with a lever at the rear of the camera which moves along a calibrated arc and can be locked at specific positions. The camera stops automatically at the end of the dissolve; a button unlocks the movement when you're ready to start up again. (Later models have no auto dissolve).
NOTE: In the Bell & Howell camera the shutter acts in front of the viewing system as well as the taking system; if you do a fade-out as the first half of a dissolve, when you go to do your setup for the incoming shot, you're unable to view and focus on the ground glass because the variable shutter is fully closed and can't be opened without risk of flashing the film. This isn't the case with the Mitchell because the shutter shifts away from the aperture to make room for the magnifying eyepiece--no matter how the shutter is set, it has no influence on parallax- free viewing between shots.
TRIVIA:
The "Ben Hur" chariot race was a great workout for cameras and cameramen, drawing in much of the cinematographic talent of Hollywood. There were six Mitchells among the battery of cameras, and the director of the race, Reeves Eason, was especially pleased with how quick the Mitchell was to operate. "Its saving in time alone proved of inestimable value."
No camera has ever been so well equipped for special effects work; it was another reason for the Mitchell's immediate popularity. The lenses could be swung off-axis in the turret, giving the same effect as the rising front on a large format still camera: the equivalent of a 15° tilt without the converging verticals that you see when a negative is actually tipped back.
